Lancs Public Health Director calls for calm as number of Monkeypox cases rises
The total number of confirmed cases now stands at 57
Lancashire's Public Health Director says a rise in Monkeypox cases is inevitable but it'll be nowhere near the scale we've seen in the Covid pandemic.
Contact tracing's underway after the number of people in England diagnosed with the virus has risen to 57.
That's more than double the figure released by the UK Health Security Agency yesterday which stood at 20 confirmed cases.
Health officials said that while the outbreak is "significant and concerning", the risk to the UK population remains low.
You're most at risk if you have close personal contact with, or have changed the bedding, of an infected person without wearing PPE and anyone coming into contact asked to self-isolate at home for three weeks.
The Government has stocks of the smallpox vaccine which is being offered to very close contacts of those affected.
Transmission between people is occurring in the UK, with a large proportion of cases identified in the gay, bisexual and men who have sex with other men community although anyone can get it.
Lancashire's Public Health Director Sakthi Karunanithi is urging people not to get carried away:
"Monkeypox is a rare infection. It's usually associated with travel in Central and West Africa but we now know cases have been occurring in England as well with no travel links but it is not to be worried about.
"We are asking people, particularly gay and bisexual men, to be alert.
"It starts with fever, headache, muscle aches but people can get a bit of a rash often looking like chickenpox.
"It's a new infection in this context, although we've known about this virus for some time, outbreaks like this very rarely occur outside the places I mentioned before.
"It's okay to be curious but there's no need to be unnecessarily anxious.
"If you have concerns and think you may have Monkeypox, you should seek professional advice. If you're going to a clinic please contact ahead of you going so people can be prepared.
"It's still in small numbers across the county.
UK Home Security Agency are working with the NHS and health departments to erase this outbreak and also understand how this virus behaves in a UK context."